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11/17

Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), noting they cannot support the cap-and-trade climate bill now churning through the Senate, said their plan could cost $20 billion over 10 years. It would include $100 billion for carbon-free electricity loan guarantees, expected to chiefly benefit the U.S. nuclear industry.

It would also offer $750 million per year for 10 years to fund carbon-capture-and-storage technology—sometimes known as “clean coal”—as well as biofuels made from non-food crops, advanced batteries for electric cars and trucks, solar power, and recycling of used nuclear fuel. More

The answer, thankfully, quickly became a resounding “no.” As Grist’s own David Roberts is often the first to point out, the mainstream media clearly got it wrong. There’s still hope—a lot of it, at that.

Let’s start with those headlines. Who are these “world leaders” who agreed to delay? Well, the plural may be accurate, but just barely.

In the 48 hours since initial reports, as Ministers and other government representatives have trickled into Copenhagen for the “pre-COP” preparatory meeting, it’s become clear that while the media reported that all 19 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) leaders were in agreement on the so-called “one agreement, two steps” approach, that’s not at all the case. More

11/12

11/12

Contributing at least 5 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the cement industry is ripe for changes to lower its impact. Cement, the glue that binds concrete, is one of the most carbon-intensive materials out there: It produces one ton of CO2 for every ton of cement made.

A number of companies, looking to cut the global impact of concrete, as well as open up huge markets for greener building blocks, are using a variety of methods like replacing concrete ingredients and adding new materials that make concrete waterproof. More

It was less than a year ago, but everything seemed so different then. George W. Bush was still in the White House, but officials gathered at the annual international climate talks, held last December in Poznan, felt new hope in the chilly Polish air: President-elect Obama had, against many expectations, made it clear that combatting global warming was to be a priority for his incoming administration.

The hope grew, if anything, in March when Obama’s new climate envoy, Todd Stern, traveled to Bonn and addressed the first of this year’s long series of climate negotiations. “We are very glad to be back, we want to make up for lost time, and we are seized with the urgency of the task before us,” he told the delegates, promising to engage “powerfully, fervently” in the talks, which were tasked with preparing for the vital climate negotiations in Copenhagen next month.

Things look very different today. In the eyes of most of the world, the United States has again emerged as the principal obstacle to a new international climate agreement, in stark contrast to India, China and other rapidly industrializing developing countries that, despite the widely held view of a year ago that they would be unlikely to cooperate on drafting a new pact, have actually moved further and faster to address the climate crisis. More

WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats on Thursday pushed through a sweeping climate change bill, maneuvering an end-run around opposition Republicans who continued their boycott of deliberations.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the Kerry-Boxer bill by a vote of 11 to 1, with the seven Republicans on the committee absent from the discussion and vote.

The panel is among five other Senate committees which also will weigh in with their draft bills on slowing the pace of climate change before a bill receives a vote in the full chamber, possibly next year.

“We are pleased that despite the Republican boycott we have been able to move this bill forward,” said committee chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) after the vote.

Republicans, who boycotted the deliberations for three consecutive days, said they would oppose the bill until they had a “comprehensive analysis” of the economic impact of the legislation from the Environmental Protection Agency.

But Boxer said further analysis by the agency was not necessary, and maintained that the EPA’s environmental impact assessment of a similar bill approved in June by the House of Representatives was sufficient. “We found that, after questioning the EPA extensively, that the Republicans’ demand for another EPA analysis now would be duplicative and a waste of taxpayer dollars,” she said. More

Lobbying groups for both the energy and environmental sides have boosted their spending this year, but the energy sector is still vastly outspending the greens.

Science and specifics are hard to find in the barrage of ads and messages about green jobs, alternative energy, and the dangers of pollution.

Energy-sector groups spent a total of $300 million through the third quarter of 2009 and were on pace for a record spending year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks lobbyist spending.

From January to September, some of the biggest energy-lobby spenders included oil and gas ($120.7 million), electric utilities ($108 million), and alternate energy, which showed a 40 percent boost over last year with $23 million.

Environmental groups, which tend to press for reforms that the energy sector opposes, were far outspent at $16 million during the same period, a 14 percent increase from last year.

And the difference is apparent in the size of the lobbyist armies that descend on Capitol Hill each day. Overall, energy-related companies hired 2,225 lobbyists so far this year, compared to environmentalists who hired just 465. http://www.grist.org/article/2009-11-03-flurry-of-lobbying-cash-obscures-u.s.-climate-debate/ More at Grist] Here's some musical inspiration to get involved

"At least six miles of East Bay shoreline have been impacted by oil from the Dubai Star fueling accident that released bunker fuel into the San Francisco Bay early Friday morning. The oil spill has contaminated shorelines on Bay Farm Island and Alameda Island, including Robert Crowne Memorial Beach.

So far, there are reports of more than 60 oiled birds, and the impacted species include semipalmated plover, Western grebe, Eared grebe, scaup and American coot. Delicate and rare eelgrass beds in the area probably have been contaminated. Eelgrass is the sole spawning habitat for Pacific herring and is the sole food source for the Black brandt."

Baykeeper is " grateful to the volunteer kayakers who are keeping us informed about oiled shoreline and wildlife. If you see oil, please report it to hotline@baykeeper.org. Please stay off of closed beaches to allow oiled birds the space to come ashore and be safely rescued. If you see oiled wildlife, please keep your distance, and report them to the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at 1-877-UCD-OWCN.

In the coming weeks, Baykeeper will examine the response efforts to determine how effectively response measures have been improved since the Cosco Busan oil spill of 2007. Since the Cosco Busan oil spill, Baykeeper has been the only non-governmental agency participating in planning meetings, exercises and drills in order to improve oil spill response for San Francisco Bay." map of spill

PARIS—Leaders from nine major faiths meet at Windsor Castle on Tuesday in an exceptional initiative that supporters predict will harness the power of religion in the fight against climate change.

The ecumenical gathering at the home of Queen Elizabeth II, 22 miles west of London, is being co-staged by the United Nations and Prince Philip’s Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC).

Representatives from Baha’ism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Shintoism, Sikhism, and Taoism will unveil programs that “could motivate the largest civil society movement the world has ever seen,” said U.N. Assistant Secretary General Olav Kjorven.

U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon will launch the event under the banner “Faith Commitments for a Living Planet.”

“We expect to send a strong signal from religion to governments that we are extremely committed. It’s about religions mobilizing their followers to act against climate change,” Kjorven told AFP in an interview.

Eighty-five percent of humanity follow a religion, a figure that shows the power of faith to move billions, he pointed out.

In addition, faith-based groups own nearly 8 percent of habitable land on Earth, operate dozens of media groups and more than half the world’s schools, and control 7 percent of financial investments worth trillions, according to ARC. More

Well, they both thrive on the assumption that it’s good idea to devote vast swaths of land to an incredibly resource-intensive crop—corn—and then run that crop through an energy-sucking process to create a product of dubious value.

And ... they both got tagged as major drivers of climate change this past week.

Grist Link

From Asia to Europe via the Middle East, activists staged lively events addressing world leaders and to mobilize public opinion around climate issues.

Many waved placards bearing the logo 350, referring to 350 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 in the atmosphere which scientists say must not be exceeded to avoid runaway global warming.

Link

On a conference call Tuesday night with young climate activists, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) served up several newsy tidbits, starting with his hint that sort-of climate news will come out of President Obama’s upcoming trip to China and that getting a bill through Congress will mean compromising with Republicans who want more nuclear energy. Link. Here's some musical inspiration to get involved in the style of Schoolhouse Rock

Kinshasa, DRC, October 14, 2009 – One year after violence erupted in Haut-Uélé district, in northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), attacks and clashes have now expanded to new areas, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee. Humanitarian organizations have failed to meet the massive needs that have resulted and an urgent response with greater presence in the rural areas of Haut-Uélé and Bas-Uélé is imperative, said the international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Since late 2008, the civilian population of Haut-Uélé and Bas-Uélé has been caught in a dramatic cycle of violence linked to attacks perpetrated by the Ugandan rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), and the Ugandan and Congolese offensive against the LRA. As the situation deteriorates, civilians also find themselves facing increasing banditry.

"The local population is the target of violence: murder, kidnapping and sexual abuse," said Luis Encinas, coordinator of MSF operations in Central Africa. "We are talking about tactics of violence aimed at instilling fear in the people. Our patients have told us the most brutal stories – about children who are forced to kill their parents and people burnt alive inside their homes."

Did you know that some of the best hardwood can be found underwater? When people built hydrodams and created lakes in valleys to get quick, cheap power, they flooded the trees and essentially forgot about them. A small underwater logging industry has ensued, but no company has taken it as far as Triton Logging of Vancouver, BC.

Instead of sending human divers underwater, Triton built a giant yellow submarine called the Sawfish — a 5,500-pound unmanned logging device capable of finding, chopping, and floating trees weighing up to 200 pounds to the surface from deep underwater. link

"Sweden should follow the examples set by its northern neighbors in developing systems to halt deforestation," said WWF CEO General Lasse Gustavsson.. "One Swedish krona to stem deforestation results in the same emissions reductions as five kronor for the controversial carbon capture and storage technique."

Gold in Green Forests, a report issued today by WWF-Sweden, says that next to energy efficiency halting forest loss and degradation is the most cost-effective method for mitigating climate change.

The annual loss of natural forests in developing countries is equivalent to one third of Sweden’s surface area. Forest fires, the conversion of forests to agricultural land and the cultivation of energy crops are responsible for the high rate of forest loss. Link

The small low-lying nation archipelago averages only seven feet above sea-level, and may be one of the first nations to disappear entirely due to sea level rise from global warming. Link

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today designated 5,855 square miles of nearshore waters along the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea, and Alaska Peninsula as critical habitat for threatened sea otters in southwest Alaska. Today’s action comes under court order resulting from a lawsuit against the Service by the Center for Biological Diversity. Link

The bill will be backed by a strong and broad coalition, according to Kerry’s message, which Heinz delivered at a pre-G20 party sponsored by the U.S. Climate Action Network, and “will take a more comprehensive approach to dwindling oil reserves than any prior legislation.”

The legislation will be a “thoughtful, innovative, far-reaching solution” in four areas: the nation’s energy foundation; U.S. economic competitiveness; the health of the environment; and national security. [1]

The “culture jamming” prankster troupe The Yes Men contributed to the Climate Week excitement in New York City this morning by distributing fake copies of the New York Post. The illicit special edition of the tabloid warned that climate change could unleash heat waves, flooding, and other disasters over the next decades.

The fake paper (also online) contains actual non-fake information, the group says:

Although the 32-page New York Post is a fake, everything in it is 100% true, with all facts carefully checked by a team of editors and climate change experts.

“This could be, and should be, a real New York Post,” said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men. “Climate change is the biggest threat civilization has ever faced, and it should be in the headlines of every paper, every day until we solve the problem.”

The group says nearly a million copies were distributed by more than 2,000 volunteers.Link

Tropical storm Ketsana dumped the heaviest rain in more than 40 years on Manila and its neighboring areas over the weekend, killing 246 people and affecting more than 2 million. It continued to leave a trail of destruction across Southeast Asia Wednesday, killing at least 49 people in Vietnam and Cambodia and smashing into Laos.

At talks in Bangkok over a global climate treaty, the Philippines’ chief negotiator Secretary Heherson Alvarez said he hoped “the sense of urgency, the sense of need for safe protection” was conveyed to rich countries.More

California is holding its own conference; the Gov. recent gave an address which should soon be posted at the [www.commonwealthclub.org/archive Commonwealth Club] site.

Sydney dust storm 'like Mars'

Sydney residents woke up to an ethereal scene on Wednesday. A storm which blew in from the Australian outback blanketed Sydney in a layer of orange dust. Here, residents describe the bizarre and frightening scene. Tanya Ferguson said the dust was the weirdest thing she had seen in her life, turning the city into a scene from another planet.

"It was like being on Mars," she told the BBC News website.

"I haven't been there, obviously, but I imagine that's what the sky would look like."

It was like being in the outback, but it was right here in the city. She said she woke to a massive gust of wind blowing through her windows early in the morning.

"The whole room was completely orange. I couldn't believe my eyes," she said. More...

President Jacob Zuma has identified climate change and its impact on women as a critical area of concern. “Natural disasters affect women directly and severely because of their social roles and the impacts of poverty. When there are floods, cyclones, or drought, women bear the brunt,” he said recently. link

The climate and energy legislation that the House passed in June would increase revenues for farmers, according to a preliminary analysis released by the United States Department of Agriculture on Wednesday.

The study contradicts claims from some major agriculture groups that the bill would be economically catastrophic for farmers. Instead, the study predicts that farmers and foresters would benefit directly both from pollution-permit revenues allocated to the sector and from selling offsets to polluters. More at Grist The bill will also help in terms of security

CHICAGO, July 20, 2009 (AFP) - Fish have lost half their average body mass and smaller species are making up a larger proportion of European fish stocks as a result of global warming, a study published Monday has found.

“It’s huge,” said study author Martin Daufresne of the Cemagref Public Agricultural and Environmental Research Institute in Lyon, France. “Size is a fundamental characteristic that is linked to a number of biological functions, such as fecundity—the capacity to reproduce.”

Smaller fish tend to produce fewer eggs. They also provide less sustenance for predators—including humans—which could have significant implications for the food chain and ecosystem.. More at Grist The good news is that even victims of shark attacks are coming to their defense

The biggest U.S. energy firm said it was partnering with the firm headed by Craig Venter, a researcher who founded Human Genome Sciences and Celera Genomics and has worked on projects to sequence the genomes of humans, fruit flies, and other organisms.

ExxonMobil said it expects to spend more than $600 million if certain milestones are reached to produce the fuel, which does not contribute to greenhouse emissions. More at Grist

By KIRK JOHNSON

DURANGO, Colo. — For the first time since territorial days, rain will be free for the catching here, as more and more thirsty states part ways with one of the most entrenched codes of the West.

Precipitation, every last drop or flake, was assigned ownership from the moment it fell in many Western states, making scofflaws of people who scooped rainfall from their own gutters. In some instances, the rights to that water were assigned a century or more ago.

Now two new laws in Colorado will allow many people to collect rainwater legally. The laws are the latest crack in the rainwater edifice, as other states, driven by population growth, drought, or declining groundwater in their aquifers, have already opened the skies or begun actively encouraging people to collect.

“I was so willing to go to jail for catching water on my roof and watering my garden,” said Tom Bartels, a video producer here in southwestern Colorado, who has been illegally watering his vegetables and fruit trees from tanks attached to his gutters. “But now I’m not a criminal.” More from NYT Thx Ronnie

The American Clean Energy and Security Act (aka the Waxman-Markey bill) narrowly passed in the House late Friday thanks to eight bold Republicans who hopped the fence. And one of them is Washington state’s very own Dave Reichert of the 8th District (which includes Mercer Island, Bellevue, and surrounding areas).

Some 44 House Democrats, mostly from coal-producing and industrial states, broke party lines by voting “no” on the bill that promises renewable electricity standards, emissions caps, investments in energy technology, and more. That means those eight Republicans who gave a “yay” rather than a “nay” produced the simple majority vote (plus one bonus vote!) that catapulted ACES to the Senate floor.

Why did Reichert decide to break from the Republican pack and support the bill? He remained tight-lipped about the decision until the votes were counted, and then released this statement:

"Energy independence and our national security are critical issues for America. These issues transcend politics. The future of this country is on the line and we can spare no effort when it comes to leading on these issues at a global level.

This bill is not perfect, but it is a vital step toward energy independence. America cannot maintain global leadership without innovation and new ideas, and we cannot lead if we increasingly depend on foreign nations to heat our homes and move people and goods. The price of inaction is too great; America cannot stand on the sidelines while our competitors embrace new energy efficient technologies. It’s also important that we engage in a bipartisan discussion as we move forward – this bill has many other hoops to jump through before it becomes law and I will continue to work with my colleagues across the aisle and in the Senate to gain more tax relief for middle-income families.

Teddy Roosevelt was the true example of a Republican engaged in conserving resources for our children and grandchildren, but he also had the foresight to seek a brighter future for them. Republicans must be at the table as we look for solutions in energy independence and preserving our environment, while also looking at the bigger picture and working with all of our colleagues for a stronger nation." More

The three areas to be designated as "marine national monuments" include the Mariana Trench and northern Mariana Islands, the Rose Atoll located in American Samoa and a chain of remote islands in the Central Pacific.

Establishing marine national monuments aims to ensure that certain resources are protected, such as rare fish and bird species, coral reefs and underwater active volcanoes, said a top Bush aide on the environment... More

Monday's Washington Post notes a fact that's been on many a green activist's mind in the past two months: California lawmakers are set to play key roles in setting the nation's environmental policies. The two congressional committees with the biggest say in environmental legislation are chaired by Californians (Barbara Boxer in the Senate, Henry Waxman in the House), and President-elect Obama has already tapped Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley to run the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Oh, and don't forget Steven Chu of U.C.-Berkeley being tapped for Energy secretary.

From the Post: "One longtime Capitol Hill observer cautioned that although these Californians are in key positions to shape federal policy, they don't necessarily share a single California philosophy. Still, they have been shaped by experience in a state that has led the nation in regulatory policy."

Grist link

S.F. Chronicle says Bush admin. is racing to open up the state's coasts

The Interior Department is rushing to open up California's coasts to offshore drilling exploration, the San Francisco Chronicle reported today, a move that could lead to oil derricks being built within three miles to the state's shoreline. Government estimates show there could be 10 billion barrels of oil off of California's entire coastline, enough to power the United States for 17 months. But enviros note that could come at a high cost to the marine ecosystem. Grist link

POZNAN, Poland, Dec. 13, 2008 (AFP) -- A planet-wide forum on climate change Saturday hammered out a work schedule designed to end in a treaty for expunging the darkening threat to mankind from greenhouse gases.

In the pre-dawn hours, the 192-member U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Poland set down a programme of work that, it declared, would conclude with a historic pact in Copenhagen next December.

Taking effect after 2012, the deal will set down unprecedented measures for curbing emissions of heat-trapping carbon gases and helping poor countries in the firing line of climate change... Grist link

Green groups won an important victory for clean air last week when a federal appeals court ruled that chemical plants, refineries, and other industrial sites are still subject to pollution limits even during equipment malfunctions and when plants start up or shut down. Some refineries and other sites have used the Clean Air Act's start-up, shut-down loophole -- which the Bush administration expanded -- to evade enforcement actions. "For more than a decade, polluters have relied on this loophole at the expense of neighboring communities," said Earthjustice attorney Jim Pew. Grist link

A giant flood of coal ash -- the toxic sludge left over after coal burning -- broke through an earthen retaining wall at a plant in Harriman, Tenn., Monday. Five hundred million gallons of nastiness flowed into tributaries of the Tennessee River and inundated a dozen nearby homes. Either Santa has it out for Harriman residents, or coal is the enemy of the human race. We're betting on the latter. Grist link

California unveiled a comprehensive "green chemistry" plan this week that aims to both encourage the development of less-toxic products and compel manufacturers to reveal exactly what's in their products and how dangerous they could be to the public. One part of the plan calls for an online database with info on hundreds of thousands of products, including where they were made and how they were transported. See also Chemical page for more info in audio section Grist link

Working to save Brazil's rainforests, as well as its land, air, and water is a dangerous pursuit, putting at least 260 environmental and human-rights activists at risk of assassination, according to a new report by the Catholic Land Commission. The report's release coincides with the 20th anniversary of the assassination of activist Chico Mendes, who worked to preserve Brazil's rainforests and unionize rubber tappers. Grist link

At a federal auction for oil and gas leases in Utah last week, environmental activist Tim DeChristopher posed as a buyer, successfully bidding up lease prices on BLM land by hundreds of thousands of dollars and winning 13 parcels that he admits he can't actually pay for. The BLM is giving the other (real) bidders 10 days to decide if they want to withdraw their bids on the parcels they won at inflated prices. Some bidders indicated they would likely hold on to their leases despite the increased price since the incoming Obama administration may not offer the same leases again. Grist link also Audio interview from Democracy Now

California's air regulators cracked down on diesel pollution from heavy-duty trucks on Friday, adopting tough new rules that will require older trucks to be retrofitted or replaced starting in 2011. Diesel trucks are currently responsible for a third of the state's smog. Also: California officials this week committed to a comprehensive plan to cut the state's greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 through regulating GHG emissions from vehicles, investing in energy efficiency, and sourcing one-third of the state's electricity from renewables, among other initiatives. Grist link

The Bush administration this week made a major change to the Endangered Species Act by axing a requirement that federal agencies seek independent scientific reviews of planned projects to determine if they would mess with imperiled plants or animals. "These changes are going to result in more species being put in jeopardy," said Jamie Rappaport Clark of Defenders of Wildlife. Grist link

President-elect Barack Obama will nominate former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) to be secretary of agriculture, Democratic sources say. Vilsack has been a big booster of ethanol, including corn-derived ethanol. "I think corn was a great way to start the conversation on renewable fuel," he said in an interview with Grist last year. "But we can't grow enough corn, and I think there are more efficient ways over time to produce ethanol from biomass with less stress on the environment, less use of water, less use of fertilizer."

On the subject of organic and small-scale farming, Vilsack told Grist, "My hope is that we transform from the traditional farm policy to a food-and-farm policy that encourages greater diversity in agriculture, including incentives for food production and enhanced conservation practices. I also think we ought to be looking at changing the way we subsidize agriculture generally, from a commodity-based process to a conservation-based process, which would benefit organic farms as well." Grist link

Over 1,100 gallons of oil spilled off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., Sunday when a pump line on an offshore oil rig sprung a leak, causing a mile-and-a-half-long oil slick that state regulators said was mostly cleaned up by Monday morning. In 1969, the same rig was the site of a massive, 200,000 gallon oil spill that coated 35 miles of California coastline, killed a mess of wildlife, and jumpstarted the environmental movement. Grist link

President-elect Barack Obama has not yet officially announced his choices to fill key environmental posts in his administration, but the word is now out on the street. Transition-team officials say that Lisa Jackson will head the U.S. EPA, Steven Chu (currently head of Livermore Lab, formerly from UC Berzerkeley) will be secretary of energy, Nancy Sutley will head the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and Carol Browner will fill a new post that some are calling "energy czar." The secretary of interior position is still up in the air. Obama is expected to formally introduce his environmental team next week. Grist link Here is a profile of Chu on PBS

The U.S. House on Wednesday approved a $14 billion rescue plan for the domestic auto industry that, among many other things, would force the companies to comply with California's strict emissions requirements for vehicles. However, House Democrats reportedly dropped a requirement from the bill that would have barred the Big Three from using any of the federal money from the bailout to challenge state greenhouse-gas emission limits in court. The bill has not yet been passed in the Senate, where it faces serious opposition. Grist link

Ford Motor Co. is planning a significant product shift that will focus on the manufacture of small, fuel-efficient cars in lieu of its largely failed strategy since the 1990s to churn out mostly large vehicles like trucks and SUVs. Ford's plan is meant to woo Congress into granting the Big Three U.S. automakers a much-needed $25 billion loan package. Grist link

War, hunger, poverty and sickness will stalk humanity if the world fails to tackle climate change, a 12-day U.N. conference on global warming heard on Monday.

A volley of grim warnings sounded out at the start of the marathon talks, a step to a new worldwide treaty to reduce greenhouse gases and help countries exposed to the wrath of an altered climate.

"Humankind in its activity just reached the limits of the closed system of our planet Earth," said Polish Environment Minister Maciej Nowicki, elected to chair the December 1-12 meeting in the city of Poznan.

"Further expansion in the same style will generate global threats of really great intensity -- huge droughts and floods, cyclones with increasingly more destructive power, pandemics of tropical disease, dramatic decline of biodiversity, increasing ocean levels," said Nowicki.

"All these can cause social and even armed conflict and migration of people at an unprecedented scale..."

More

An eight-year study of ocean pH levels off the Northwest coast of the United States found that pollution is increasing the ocean's acidity about 10 or 20 times faster than previously thought and that the process is already significantly disrupting ocean ecology.See link for UCSC angle to this story, Don Potts. Grist link

Los Angeles will source one-tenth of its energy from solar power by 2020 under a plan unveiled Monday by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Considering the town's many celebrities, a plan to tap star power is certainly forthcoming.

source: Los Angeles Times Grist link

$100 billion for green jobs. Billion!

The Associated Press reports plans for a massive new green-collar federal stimulus package:

Obama has also embraced calls for a "green jobs" program that invests as much as $100 billion in projects to slash harmful emissions. This could include projects such as retrofitting buildings to make them more energy-efficient, upgrading the electrical grid and improving mass transit.

"It turns out that putting money into green technologies ... has a very large positive employment effect relative to tax cuts," said Robert Pollin, a University of Massachusetts-Amherst economist who has written extensively on what he calls the "green recovery."

"It's very efficient in terms of creating jobs for a given amount of spending, and it has the added benefit that the short-term effects are compatible with long-term needs in the economy," Pollin said. Worldchanging link

UN report finds life is getting better for people worldwide – but that governments are failing to grasp the opportunities offered at 'a unique time'. Geoffrey Lean and Jonathan Owen report in UK Guardian.

Humanity stands on the threshold of a peaceful and prosperous future, with an unprecedented ability to extend lifespans and increase the power of ordinary people – but is likely to blow it through inequality, violence and environmental degradation. And governments are not equipped to ensure that the opportunities are seized and disasters averted.

So says a massive new international report, due to be published late this month, and obtained by The Independent on Sunday. Backed by organisations ranging from Unesco to the US army, the World Bank to the Rockefeller Foundation, the 2008 State of the Future report runs to 6,300 pages and draws on contributions from 2,500 experts around the globe.

Its warning is all the more stark for eschewing doom and gloom. "The future continues to get better for most of the world," it concludes, "but a series of tipping points could drastically alter global prospects."

It goes on. "This is a unique time in history. Mobile phones, the internet, international trade, language translation and jet planes are giving birth to an interdependent humanity that can create and implement global strategies to improve [its] prospects. It is increasingly clear that the world has the resources to address our common challenges. Ours is the first generation with the means for many to know the world as a whole, identify global improvement systems, and seek to improve [them]."

"The USDA has crazy idea that organic cows should get time in pasture. Only cows that have gobbled grass in pasture for at least 120 days per year can produce milk labeled "organic," according to draft rules issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Activists have long criticized a loophole that allowed organic-milk producers to keep their cows in giant feedlots, as long as they were fed organic grain." Grist link

Women exposed to lots of hairspray in the workplace -- hairdressers, beauticians, and the like -- are more likely to give birth to boys with genital defects, says a British study published in Environmental Health Perspectives. Surprise: Hairspray contains phthalates. Grist link

Video game consoles in the United States consumed some 16 billion kilowatt-hours last year, or about enough juice to power the city of San Diego for a year, according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council. However, cutting down video games' impact is relatively easy since the three most popular video game consoles -- Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft XBox360, and Nintendo's Wii -- can significantly reduce their power suckage if players simply switch them off after use and activate their already-existing power-saving features. Grist link

Due to escalating violence, Congolese rangers have been run out of the country's Virunga National Park, threatening the safety of some 200 mountain gorillas that live there. "There are documented cases of the gorillas getting caught in the crossfire and getting killed," says a park spokesperson. "It's the chaos of war and they are right in the middle of it." Only about 700 mountain gorillas remain in the wild. Grist link

In a big setback for whales and environmentalists, the U.S. Supreme Court has yanked restrictions on sonar use in Navy training exercises near the California coast. The court, which split 5-4, didn't quibble with the Navy's own estimates that sonar can lead to substantial and irreparable harm to whales. However, the majority opinion stated that those concerns are "plainly outweighed by the Navy's need to conduct realistic training exercises." According to observers, "This seemingly perverse and perplexing decision raises troubling questions." Grist link

The U.S. EPA's scientific advisers asked the agency to delay finalizing its decision not to set standards for the toxic chemical perchlorate in drinking water, saying the model its decision was based on may be flawed. "Given perchlorate's wide occurrence and well-documented toxicity to humans, the [Science Advisory Board] strongly believes that there must be a compelling scientific basis to support a scientific determination not to regulate perchlorate as a national drinking water contaminant," the board wrote to the EPA last week. source: The Washington Post Grist link

Those are just the direct costs, toted up in a new report by economists at U-C Berkeley. “California Climate: Risk and Response” is billed as the first comprehensive report on the costs that may be inflicted on California from the effects of climate change. The 127-page report was co-authored by Fredrich Kahl and David Roland-Holst of Berkeley’s Center for Energy, Resources and Economic Sustainability (part of the Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics).

Higher energy demand, heat waves, scarce water, wildfire and rising sea levels–even the “collapse” of the state’s half-billion-dollar ski industry–are just some of the potential cost drivers. The “good news,” according to the report, is that much of this cost could be avoided by immediate investment in strategies to prepare. The link below has more information, and links to a audio file of discussion. link

The influential International Energy Agency has released its annual report on world energy demand, predicting that renewables will make big gains worldwide, increasing their overall market share 5 percent to meet 23 percent of the world's total energy needs by 2030. However, coal consumption is also predicted to increase, eventually providing some 44 percent of the world's energy by 2030. Unsurprisingly, the IEA also forecast that the world will have a difficult time combating climate change. link

"These are the first organisms that have been found that make many of the ingredients of diesel," said Professor Gary Strobel from Montana State University. "This is a major discovery."

The discovery may offer an alternative to fossil fuels, said Strobel, MSU professor of plant sciences and plant pathology, who travels the world looking for exotic plants that may contain beneficial microbes. The find is even bigger, he said, than his 1993 discovery of fungus that contained the anticancer drug taxol. More

California OKs measure requiring more humane treatment of farm animals California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 2, which will require that egg-laying hens, calves raised for veal, and pregnant pigs be given enough room to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs, and turn around freely. Get the background on this groundbreaking ballot initiative. Grist link

Three moos for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is aiming to close a loophole in organic standards for livestock. Under the proposed rule, organic cows must be let out to graze in a pasture at least 120 days per year, and must get 30 percent of their feed from such grazing. The old rules merely said cows must have "access to pasture" -- which, undefined, allowed some "organic" operators to cut corners. Grist link

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been a failed state for years, and is the site of a little known human rights disaster, far less familar than Darfur. What is fuelling the civil war is the coltan used in our cell phones and laptops (See Harden essay in the course reader). (Thanks to Zach for sending this story). Video overview

Starbucks will buy 40 million pounds of fair-trade-certified coffee next year, doubling the hill of beans it bought this year and becoming the largest purchaser of fair-trade coffee in the world. The caffeine giant, though struggling financially and recognizing the price premium of sustainable bean-buying, has a goal of selling only "responsibly grown and ethically traded" coffee by 2015. Grist link

The World Wildlife Fund released its 2008 Living Planet Report on Wednesday, estimating that to maintain current consumption levels, humans will need two planets' worth of resources by the mid-2030s. Declares the group's James Leape, "[T]he ecological credit crunch will require even bolder action than that now being mustered for the financial crisis."

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Google.org, the philanthropic arm of the search giant, has unveiled a plan to move the U.S. to a clean-energy future. The vision: In 2030, electricity will be generated not from coal or oil but from wind, solar, and geothermal power. Energy demand will be two-thirds what it is now, thanks to stringent energy-efficiency measures. Ninety percent of new vehicle sales will be plug-in hybrids. Carbon dioxide emissions will be down 48 percent. Getting there will cost $4.4 trillion, says the plan -- but will recoup $5.4 trillion in savings. The Clean Energy 2030 plan would require ambitious national policies, a huge boost to renewables, increased transmission capacity, a smart electricity grid, and much higher fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles. But hey, says the report: "With a new administration and Congress -- and multiple energy-related imperatives -- this is an opportune, perhaps unprecedented, moment to move from plan to action." Grist link

Starbucks wastes some 6.2 million gallons of water each day through a health policy that requires a constantly running tap at each store, says a breathless indictment in British tabloid The Sun. A Starbucks spokesperson confirms the use of a dipper well, which uses "a stream of continuous cold fresh-running water to rinse away food residue, help keep utensils clean, and prevent bacterial growth." Dipper wells are common at coffee and ice-cream shops, but the gigantuousness of Starbucks' global operations is such that, according to the The Sun, the amount of wasted water could sate the thirst of "the entire 2 million-strong population of drought-hit Namibia ... or fill an Olympic pool every 83 minutes." Starbucks says it is looking into alternatives, which water-efficiency experts say do exist. "Leaving taps running all day is a shocking waste of precious water," says Peter Robinson of U.K. green group Waste Watch. "And to claim you are doing it for health and safety reasons is bonkers." Grist link

Nearly a quarter of wild mammal species are in danger of extinction

Some 21 percent of the world's 5,487 known wild mammal species are in danger of extinction, according to the updated Red List maintained by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. (Steller sea lions and tigers and giant pandas, oh no!) "Our results paint a bleak picture of the global status of mammals worldwide," say researchers, noting that the tally could be as high as 36 percent due to insufficient data. More than 1,700 scientists in 130 countries participated in the five-year survey of mammal well-being, to be published in Science. Land mammals are mostly threatened by habitat loss and hunting; marine mammals too often end up as bycatch, are struck by ships, or perish due to water pollution. Primates face perhaps the highest threat: in South and Southeast Asia, a full 79 percent of monkeys and apes face possible extinction. Grist link

Jimmy Wales, best known as a cofounder of Wikipedia, is now channeling some of his energy and ambition into the environmental realm, aiming to build "the world's handbook for going green."

Wikia, Inc., Wales' for-profit company (not to be confused with Wikipedia, a project of the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation), announced this month that it's launching Wikia Green, which Wales describes as "an encyclopedia from a green perspective." Built on a wiki platform, which allows anyone to contribute or edit content, Wikia Green aims to amass a collection of articles on all kinds of eco-topics -- how-to advice, explanations of environmental science and technology, profiles of green groups and greenish people, etc.

Wikia, Inc. itself is also going green. The company has reduced its server need by more than 50 percent over the past six months and is pursuing certification from the San Francisco Green Business Program. It also recently relocated its office from the San Mateo Valley to San Francisco to be more centrally located for most employees. Grist Interview

House Democrats, out-stubborned by Republicans, will allow the 26-year-old congressional ban on offshore oil and gas drilling to expire on Sept. 30. Dems will not attach a provision to ban offshore drilling to a stopgap spending bill that's expected to swiftly pass Congress and be signed by President Bush. The prez had made it clear that he would veto the bill if it included language upholding the ban. The expiration of the moratorium could theoretically allow offshore leasing to begin Oct. 1, though Dems are likely to try to include drilling restrictions in other legislation, and in any case, it would be quite a while before any actual drilling commenced. The whole kit and kaboodle, in effect, leaves the future of offshore-drilling policy to the next Congress and the presidential administration of John McCain or Barack Obama. Grist link

How green is your alma mater? Check out the 2009 College Sustainability Report Card, which grades 300 U.S. and Canadian schools on their green practices. The colleges are evaluated in areas including climate and energy, food and recycling, green building, student involvement, and transportation. Many pass those categories with flying colors, but in areas "like shareholder engagement and endowment transparency ... [about] half or more of schools are still getting grades of F," says Mark Orlowski of the Sustainable Endowments Institute, which issues the report card. Nonetheless, 75 percent of the schools scored an overall B or C, and two-thirds received a higher grade then last year. Fifteen received an A or A- and were thus declared College Sustainability Leaders: Brown, Carleton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Dickinson, Harvard, Middlebury, Oberlin, Stanford, and the Universities of British Columbia (pictured), Colorado, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington. Grist link

For over 20 years, tree-sitters in Northern California have taken a stand for ancient redwoods by camping in their branches and acting as physical barriers to logging. But for now at least, the last trees-sitters have all descended from their perches, thanks to a promise from a timber company that owns huge swaths of redwoods in the area. Pacific Lumber, the largest private owner of old-growth redwoods anywhere, had long been a villain to environmentalists since it was acquired by an especially logging-happy investor in 1986 who quickly stepped up logging of old-growth trees. The company has since gone bankrupt and is now under new ownership as Humboldt Redwood Co.; HRC has promised to avoid clear-cutting and to leave any trees standing that are at least four feet in diameter and at least 200 years old. Before the company's change of heart, though, the threat to ancient redwoods drew in forest activists from across the country who staged regular protests and engaged in direct action to block logging roads so the trees would still be standing by the time a deal was reached to save them. [Note: the beggining of this conflict is explored beautifully in the core course book of some years back, David Harris' The Last Stand.Bold text Julia "Butterfly" Hill and "Gypsy" Chain were involved later. Grist link

The Ford Fiesta ECOnetic, a small, sporty five-seater that gets an impressive 65 miles per gallon, will the hit the road in November -- but only in Europe. "We just don't think North and South America would buy that many diesel cars," says Ford America President Mark Fields. The new generation of diesel cars, which are dramatically cleaner than old-school diesels and are at least 30 percent more fuel-efficient than gas-powered vehicles, haven't managed to shake Americans' longstanding aversion to the fuel: only 3 percent of cars in the U.S. are diesel-powered. But other automakers are betting that Americans can be swayed. Mercedes-Benz will by next year have three diesel vehicles on the market, and a handful of other automakers will introduce diesel models to the U.S. in 2010. Grist link

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Exposure to pesticides in utero can double a child's chances of becoming obese, a new Spanish study has concluded. The study, published in the journal Acta Paediatrica, measured the level of the internationally banned (yet still freakishly persistent) pesticide hexachlorobenzene in the umbilical cords of over 400 children born on the Spanish island of Menorca. It found that the kids with the highest levels of HCB before birth were twice as likely to be obese at age six and a half. Previous studies have linked bisphenol A exposure to obesity in animals, and other studies have linked phthalates to obesity in adult men; the Spanish study honed in on the effects of HCB in young and unborn humans. "This is very important. It is the first good study of the effects on the fetus," said Pete Myers, a scientist at Environmental Health Sciences in the U.S. "Its conclusions are not surprising, given what we know from the animal experiments, but it firmly links such chemicals to the biggest challenge facing public health today." Grist link

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Sustained high oil prices on into the future could prompt entrepreneurs and scavengers to seek oil and oil derivatives from plastic items long ago thrown away in landfills, according to waste experts. "By 2020 we might have 9 billion people on the planet ... and we could be in a really resource-hungry world with the oil price climbing and a supply situation ... where natural gas is limited," said waste-management guru Peter Jones. "It is those drivers, those conditions, which will encourage the possibility of landfill mining." The potential for useful-materials recovery from landfills is huge, including reuse and recycling of metals as well as a vast wealth of buried plastics. Experts estimate that even just in Britain, some 200 million tons of old plastic could potentially be recovered from landfills for recycling or conversion into fuel; at today's prices, such a bounty would be worth some $110 billion. "Once plastic is in a landfill site, it pretty much sits there doing nothing -- and the beauty of that is that you're able to go back and recapture it in the future," said Peter Mills of recycler New Earth Solutions. Grist link

Sumatra's Tesso Nilo National Park will be doubled in size in an effort to help out the endangered elephants and tigers that live there. Riau province, which contains the park, houses some 210 elephants (down from 1,250 just a quarter-century ago) and 192 tigers (down from 650 in that same time period). Sixty to 80 elephants and some 50 tigers are believed to reside in Tesso Nilo. The park also has the most biodiverse highland forest plant life on earth, with some 4,000 recorded unique species. The expansion of the park to 212,500 acres "is a momentous decision that offers hope for some of the planet's most spectacular wildlife and forests," says Carter Roberts of WWF. "There is still much to do, however, as Sumatra's forests continue to disappear to feed the growing global demand for pulp, paper, and palm oil." Riau lost 11 percent of its forest cover in just one year between 2005 and 2006, and has 65 percent less forest cover than it did in the early 1980s. Grist link

Sources: Reuters, CARE International Straight to the report: Humanitarian Implications of Climate Change: Mapping Emerging Trends and Risk Hotspots (PDF) Grist link

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Could the global auto infrastructure be overhauled in a way that's profitable for business, cheap for drivers, and easy on the planet? Meet Better Place's Shai Agassi and his plans for an electric-car future, featured in the latest issue of Wired. In Agassi's vision, gas stations are replaced with omnipresent recharging spots for electric cars. Vehicles are cheap, perhaps even free; money is made off electricity, and renewable energy is incentivized. Drivers purchase electricity on subscription, paying for unlimited miles, a certain number of miles per month, or pay-as-you-go. No time to recharge? Head to your nearest battery exchange station and swap in a fully charged one. An onboard system is energy monitor, GPS unit, help center, and personal assistant in one. Think it could never happen? Think again: 100,000 electric cars will roll out in Israel by the end of 2011, and Denmark will also provide a testing ground. Grist link

The California Sea Otter Fund supports researchers and others who are working to understand the impacts facing the threatened sea otter and to find ways to recover their population in California. A small contribution from every Californian will go a long way towards helping to recover one of California's most charismatic and wonderful species, the sea otter! Sea Otter Fund Gets $250K, Stays on Tax Form!

Sea Otter Fund PosterCalifornia taxpayers must contribute at least $250,000 each year to keep the Sea Otter Fund alive. In 2008 the fund has already gotten $253,350, and there are still six months to go! Way to go, California! You can check the box on your 540 form.

By TIM HUBER, AP Business Writer Support for climate-change proposals may be growing among investors in big U.S. companies. Shareholder resolutions related to climate change more than doubled over the past five years, according to statistics gathered by a coalition of public interest groups, environmental organizations and pension funds. Moreover, the coalition, Boston-based Ceres, says support for those measures averaged more than 23 percent in 2008, a new high.

While that's not enough to pass a resolution, Ceres contends rising vote totals compel companies to act, like a plan by Ford Motor Co. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2020.

"It's easy to ignore 3 or 5 percent votes, but it's pretty hard to ignore 22 percent votes or 39 percent votes," said Dan Bakal, director of electric power programs for Ceres.

Bakal said shareholder activism led to new reports from Allegheny Energy and other large electricity producers that outline strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The companies faced climate change resolutions this year. The proposals were withdrawn after companies agreed to issue the reports, Bakal said. "It's an indication of movement," he said...

States can enact tougher-than-federal monitoring requirements for air pollution from factories and power plants, after a federal appeals court tossed out a U.S. EPA rule keeping them from doing so. Primary plaintiff Sierra Club celebrated the victory; defendants were the U.S. EPA and the American Petroleum Institute, which should seem like an odd pair, but somehow just doesn't surprise us. The tossed-out rule aimed to "decrease the amount of information available to the public and the amount of information that polluters are going to have to report," says Josh Dorner of the Sierra Club, thus "greatly lowering the likelihood they would be held to account for violating the Clean Air Act or any other environmental laws." But the court's decision, says Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, "will give states back the tools they need to hold polluters accountable and help ensure that everyone has clean, healthy air to breathe. Grist link

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The numbers of western lowland gorillas living across 47,000 square kilometres of dense forestland were thought to have plummeted from 100,000 to half that number since the 1980s.

Just last year, the threat from the deadly ebola virus and indiscriminate bushmeat hunters prompted the International Union for the Conservation of Nature to add the apes to their critically endangered list. link

The total cost of dumping nuclear waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain repository will hit $96.2 billion, the Department of Energy estimated Tuesday. The estimate has jumped 38 percent, excluding inflation, since 2001. And it assumes no new construction of nuclear reactors; to put that in perspective, John McCain is pushing for the U.S. to build up to 45 new nuclear plants by 2030. The Energy Department ambitiously assumes that Yucca will begin accepting waste in 2020, continue through 2070, and close in 2113. It also estimates that the site could take in as much as 122,000 tons of nuclear waste, even though Congress has limited Yucca's capacity to 77,000 tons. About 64,000 tons of used reactor fuel is already chillin' at 121 temporary sites across the U.S., and more than 2,000 tons are added each year.

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After more than four years of deliberation, the U.S. EPA has bestowed an air permit to a proposed 600-acre coal plant on Navajo land in New Mexico. Announcing the step forward for the 1,500-megawatt Desert Rock Power Plant, the EPA noted that Navajo Nation leaders have "staunchly supported" the project since its inception -- though failed to mention the tribe members who blockaded the project in protest in Dec. 2006. Navajo land is already home to two gigantic coal plants; while the EPA promises that Desert Rock "will be one of the cleanest pulverized coal-burning power plants in the country," that really ain't sayin' much. "EPA's irresponsible, inappropriate decision has failed Navajo communities and needlessly sacrificed our air, land, and water," says Dailan Long of local advocacy group Diné CARE. "It is a devastating blow to tribal members who continually suffer from the large coal complex encroaching upon our land." Gov. Bill Richardson says he will challenge the permit in court. Grist link Editor's Note: For some of the long history of environmental injustice with Native people, for example radioactive mine tailings used in house foundations to save money on sand, see recent story, and for more depth see Hearings

Wind and solar energy face a distinct hurdle: sometimes the wind don't blow and the sun don't shine. But new research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests a breakthrough in the intermittency problem. In a study published Friday in Science, researchers demonstrate a photosynthesis-inspired process to use electricity from renewable sources to split regular ol' water into hydrogen and oxygen. The gases can then be stored in a fuel cell that can produce electricity on becalmed, cloudy days. Science wonks who thrill to the words "electrolyzer," "cobalt," and "catalyst" can get the deets in the links below. The rest of us can just get excited that we may be one step closer to a clean energy economy. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution," says MIT researcher Daniel Nocera. "Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon." Grist link

More than a quarter of all significant pesticide-related health problems reported to the U.S. EPA in 2007 involved a class of insecticides deemed safe by the agency, says a new report from the Center for Public Integrity. Naturally occurring pyrethrins and their synthetic counterpart, pyrethroids, have been touted as safe alternatives to nasty organophosphates. In the past decade, they have increasingly shown up in pet shampoos, roach killers, carpet cleaners, and more. EPA data for 2007 reflect 1,030 reported incidents involving pyrethrins and pyrethroids -- more than any other class of insecticide -- compared to 261 in 1998. CPI "uncovered this public-safety issue through more than a dozen Freedom of Information Act requests and crunching the data," says CPI's Bill Buzenberg. "This should be basic public information if the EPA were doing its job." Indeed, the EPA had planned to study the health effects of pyrethrins and pyrethroids in 2010, but now plans to expedite that research. Grist link

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California, six other Western states and four Canadian provinces launched plans on Wednesday for one of the world's largest carbon-trading systems, a sweeping effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

The North American program, like a similar market-based system in Europe, focuses on heavy polluters such as electric utilities, oil refineries and large industrial and commercial facilities. link

Political appointees at the Department of Labor are moving with unusual speed to push through in the final months of the Bush administration a rule making it tougher to regulate workers' on-the-job exposure to chemicals and toxins.

The agency did not disclose the proposal, as required, in public notices of regulatory plans that it filed in December and May. Instead, Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao's intention to push for the rule first surfaced on July 7, when the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) posted on its Web site that it was reviewing the proposal, identified only by its nine-word title.

California has adopted the nation's first statewide green-building standards in what is, according to ever-punny Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, "literally a groundbreaking move." The new California Green Buildings Standards Code requires builders to reduce energy use by 15 percent beyond current standards, target a 50 percent reduction in water used for landscaping, and use more recycled materials. The code also identifies site improvements including bicycle storage and designated parking spots for low-emissions vehicles. The standards will become mandatory in 2010 Grist link

A federal judge has ruled that wolves should be returned to the endangered-species list for now, derailing plans for wolf hunts in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The 2,000 or so gray wolves that inhabit the three states were removed from the endangered list in March; environmentalists sued to get them back on, saying populations were not yet stable. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, over 100 gray wolves have been killed by hunters in the days since they were delisted, a rate of almost a wolf a day. The federal judge will eventually decide if the relisting should be permanent. Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may appeal. Grist link

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The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico may be vaster than ever this year, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists predicted Tuesday. Thanks in large part to recent Midwest flooding, the oxygen-starved zone -- caused when fertilizer runoff from upstream ag spurs growth of algae that suck oxygen as they decompose -- could measure 8,800 square miles, or about the size of New Jersey. The current dead-zone record holder is the 2002 zone, which was 8,481 square miles. The Gulf zone gets its "dead" moniker because it cannot support most marine life, and thus poses a great threat to the second-largest fishing industry in the country and the nation's biggest single source of shrimp and oysters Grist link

After decades of concern about southern pollutants poisoning traditional foods that northern aboriginals depend on, a new government study suggests levels of toxic chemicals in a wide range of animals across the Arctic are finally dropping.

The study, the first large-scale attempt in a decade to measure contaminants in common Arctic food animals, found carcinogens such as PCBs and other toxins derived from pesticides sprayed in the south have largely levelled off or have begun declining.

"Organochlorines, like DDT or chlordane or toxaphene or industrial chemicals like PCB, are declining," said project leader Laurie Chan of the University of Northern British Columbia. "That's good news."

However, the study found that mercury, probably from the increasing use of coal in power generation around the globe, remains stubborn and is even rising in some animals.

Still, Chan said, the falling organochlorine levels are proof that international agreements on limiting the use of toxic chemicals can produce real improvements in food safety.

"It seems that the Stockholm Convention is having some effect," Chan said.

That convention - heavily pushed by Canada - came into effect in 2004 and limited the use of the so-called "dirty dozen" chemicals pushed into the Arctic and concentrated there by global air currents.

At one time, Canada's Inuit had some of the highest PCB levels in the world, up to 10 times the levels found in southern Canada. The chemical was even found in the breast milk of Inuit mothers.

A 2003 study found subtle but statistically significant nervous system and behavioural changes in Inuit babies that may be linked to PCBs. Grist link

John McCain and Barack Obama are clearly divided on a number of issues — the economy, the war in Iraq, health care, abortion rights. But on the environment, it can appear that there's not much difference between the candidates. McCain has strong bona fides on climate change: he became convinced of its dangers well before many of his Senate colleagues, and is on the record for supporting a carbon cap-and-trade system. (He has wavered a bit in recent weeks.) Obama holds many of the same positions, though he does favor generally tougher measures. So, if the environment is your top concern, does it matter who gets your vote in November?

Doug Kendall says yes — but not for the reasons you might expect. Kendall is the founder of the Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC), a left-leaning legal think tank that watches Supreme Court decisions and advocates public-interest law. He points out that with the Court frequently deadlocked between more conservative voices (like Antonin Scalia and John Roberts) and more liberal ones (like Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg), the next President has the power to appoint a new Justice who will tilt the Court. Perennially debated matters, like abortion rights, could be at stake, along with new hot-button issues such as the rights of prisoners held at Guantánamo. What's less well known is that there are also a number of vital environmental cases facing the Court that could go either way, depending on who wins the Presidency. "There are few areas where the battle lines are as clearly drawn between environmentalists and their opponents as the Supreme Court," says Kendall. (Listen to Kendall talk about the future of the Court on this week's Greencast.) Time link

NAIROBI (AFP) - The world is enjoying a "green energy gold rush", the UN's environmental agency said Tuesday as it published a report outlining a 60 percent hike in investment in renewable energy in 2007.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) study, published in Nairobi, said more than 148 billion dollars (93 billion euros) of new funds were ploughed into the quest for cleaner energy last year.

The massive demand for solar, wind and biofuel energy was being powered by prevailing climate change worries, growing support from world governments and rising crude oil prices, the UN agency said. link

Penguin populations are declining, which is bad news not just for the tuxedoed birds but for, well, the world in general. A new scientific review published in the journal BioScience shows that everywhere they live, penguins are suffering from a combination of climate change, ocean pollution, overfishing, tourism, and development. "Many penguins we thought would be safe because they are not that close to people," says study author P. Dee Boersma. "And that's not true."... Grist link

With gas prices rising, more people are busing, scooting, biking -- and riding the electric scooter we all love to mock. Yes, sales of the nerdarific Segway have risen to an all-time high, as more folks deny transportation fashion in the You thought you took home a haul at the farmers market last week, but you've got nothin' on Wal-Mart. The big-box retailer has become the nation's largest buyer of local produce, planning to purchase and sell $400 million worth of locally grown fruits and veggies this year. Wal-Mart says it works with "hundreds" of individual farmers, and has 50 percent more partnerships with local growers than it did in 2006. During the summer months, says the company, one-fifth of available produce in Wal-Mart stores is sourced locally. An emphasis on local produce -- which Wal-Mart defines as grown and sold within the state -- keeps the company's delivery trucks from burning about 100,000 gallons of diesel, slices its customers' farm-to-plate distance by 672,000 miles, and saves it $1.4 million each year. Grist link

People are reclaiming natural space.

below grates In Tokyo

In Los Angeles, story link

On Thursday, California state regulators released specific plans to reduce California's greenhouse-gas emissions 10 percent from today's levels by 2020, the first phase of a scheme to reduce emissions 80 percent by 2050. The bulk of the outlined reductions are designed to come from programs the state has already begun work on, but have been stalled, most notably California's regulation of greenhouse gases from vehicles, which was shot down by the U.S. EPA. Other programs designed to reduce emissions include requiring utilities to get a third of their power from renewable sources by 2020, mandating more efficient homes and appliances, encouraging walkable cities as well as high-speed rail transit, and improving by a quarter the energy efficiency of the state's buildings. Additional GHG reductions would be achieved through a cap-and-trade system among businesses in the state, which is set to begin in 2012. Aside from reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, officials estimate the plans would also help reduce pollution and pollution-related illnesses like asthma and bronchitis. Grist link

ExxonMobil is off the hook for billions in punitive damages related to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. In 1994, the oil giant was ordered to pay $5 billion in punitive damages. In 2006, that amount was cut to $2.5 billion. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court slashed the amount once again, to $507.5 million. By a 5-3 vote (Exxon stockholder Samuel Alito sat out), the court reasoned that punitive damages should not exceed what the company paid to victims for economic losses. Since the accident, Exxon has paid $3.4 billion in various fines, penalties, cleanup costs, claims, and other expenses. The $507.5 million will be divvied up among 32,677 commercial fisherfolk, seafood processors, landowners, native Alaskans, and small business owners. Exxon, which posted a record-breaking annual profit of $40.6 billion in February, makes $507.5 million in approximately 12 hours of sales. Grist link

The European Union's comprehensive chemical law, REACH, is finally starting to take effect, requiring manufacturers and importers of chemicals to begin registering their products with a new regulatory agency. The REACH law was heavily diluted between its first introduction and final passage due to heavy pressure from the chemical industry, but it's still expected to have a big impact on the E.U. marketplace. Chemical manufacturers from around the world will eventually be forced to test their products for safety before selling them in the European Union. U.S. businesses are particularly miffed about the new regulatory requirements, saying they're expensive and unduly burdensome. But many consumer advocates are thrilled about the potential impacts. "This is going to compel companies to be more responsible for their products than they have ever been," said Daryl Ditz of the Center for International Environmental Law. "They'll have to know more about the chemicals they make, what their products are, and where they go." [The US is moving in the opposite direction: see 5/23 below] Grist link

Prof. Daniel Press, chair of the Environmental Studies Department, selected 11 undergraduates for the senior seminar from among the highest-performing students in his National Environmental Policy class, which set the stage for the in-depth exploration of the steel, glass, aluminum, and pulp and paper industries. Students met with plant managers, corporate officials, union representatives, environmental regulators, and others as they explored the forces shaping U.S. industry. Students chose the topics of their term papers, and all agreed that the "field trips" took their understanding to new levels.

President Bush has joined John McCain in calling for an end to the offshore drilling moratorium that's been in effect for most U.S. waters since the early 1980s. Bush's reversal on the offshore-drilling issue follows on the heels of McCain's big energy speech in Houston on Tuesday, where he advocated offshore drilling as a way to lower energy prices. Industry analysts have estimated that ending the ban now wouldn't increase domestic oil supplies for at least seven to 10 years, and even then, opponents say, it wouldn't significantly lower energy prices nor foster energy independence. But Bush came out in support of offshore drilling anyway, blaming congressional Democrats for the world's oil-price woes. "[In the short term], the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil, and that means we need to increase supply, especially here at home," Bush said. "Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal, and now Americans are paying the price at the pump for this obstruction." Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R), long an opponent of offshore drilling, recently shifted his position too, citing $4-a-gallon gasoline. Grist link

With gas prices rising, more people are busing, scooting, biking -- and riding the electric scooter we all love to mock. Yes, sales of the nerdarific Segway have risen to an all-time high, as more folks deny transportation fashion in the interest of gas-saving comfort. The two-wheeled, electric scooters get up to 25 miles per charge, have a top speed of about 12.5 miles per hour, and have, just once, caused the Leader of the Free World to take a tumble. Of course, the Segway-owning segment of the population is still extremely small, and with the scooters selling at $5,000 a pop, they're unlikely to become mainstream anytime soon. Grist link

Honda Motor Co.'s hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity rolled off the line Monday and will be leased to high rollers in California. The Clarity -- an update of Honda's original FCX, a handful of which were leased in 2005 -- runs on hydrogen and electricity, emits only water, and is twice as fuel-efficient as a gas-electric hybrid. Actresses Laura Harris and Jamie Lee Curtis, filmmaker Christopher Guest, and Little Miss Sunshine producer Ron Yerxa will be among those leasing the Clarity this year; Honda hopes to lease 200 of the cars within three years and, if all goes well, have them mass-produced within a decade. All going well will mean a significant uptick in hydrogen-fueling infrastructure: fill-up stations are currently few and far between (if existent at all) in most of the country.

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China's carbon emissions were the highest in the world in 2007, exceeding those of its closest rival, the United States, by 14 percent, according to a new study from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. The NEAA also found in a study last year that China was the world's top polluter in 2006, a finding some other energy agencies disputed. However, the emissions increase in 2007 was so massive -- 8 percent, according to NEAA -- that there's now little doubt China's in the lead in overall carbon emissions. Its booming economy, terrible energy efficiency, and substantial appetite for coal are thought to be the main drivers of the increase. According to the study, China's emissions jump last year accounted for about two-thirds of the world's total greenhouse-gas increase in 2007. Some things haven't changed, though. The U.S. is still the world's pollutingest nation on a per-person basis; its citizens out-polluted the Chinese by nearly four to one. Grist link

Recently, as our own cheap-energy era appears to be lurching toward its end, the mainstream media have caught wind of the Cuban miracle.link

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